It’s February, which means that many fraternities and sororities at Hopkins and at other colleges nationwide have just recruited their newest pledge class. To those new recruits, we extend our congratulations. Many students find a sense of community and lifelong friendships in the Greek organization to which they belong. But to those of you who’ve joined fraternities, we’d also like to express our concerns.

The Student Government Association (SGA) voted to remove Executive President Noh Mebrahtu from office at their weekly meeting on Tuesday. The three-hour-long impeachment hearing was closed to the student body in accordance with SGA’s constitution.

Last week, on the anniversary of the Parkland shooting, media outlets reflected on the strides in gun control that we’ve made as a result of the survivors’ movement. I want to add to the conversation by reflecting on what we can do better as we go forward.

Over 100 University faculty members have signed an open letter in opposition to Senate Bill (SB) 793 and House Bill (HB) 1094, which would allow Hopkins to create its own private police force. As of Feb. 20, 104 faculty had signed the letter.

Clinical trials are essential for testing new medications because they let researchers know whether new medications, from vitamins to vaccines, are safe and effective. However, a new study published in Trials shows that researchers aren’t properly reporting the outcomes of their clinical trials. This may make a new treatment appear to be safer or more effective than the product actually is.

A recent study revealed that self-awareness might not be a cognitive function unique to primates and mammals with complex cognitive systems. This possibility was opened by the surprising performance of a species of fish commonly known as the cleaner wrasse when faced with the mirror test.

Scientists say we have entered a new epoch. Considering the lasting impacts of human-centered destruction on the world’s flora and fauna, researchers have stressed the need to mark the end of the Holocene and the start of the Anthropocene. The Center for Biological Diversity has stated that the last time Earth’s rate of species extinction was so high was 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs collapsed. Recent statistics show that 45 percent of Earth’s invertebrates have a “threatened” status, along with over 40 percent of amphibians and nearly 20 percent of bird species.

Psychological studies show that music has an effect on the way people feel, think and behave. Music is beneficial, especially to those with anxiety and depression, but evidence has also shown that some music is linked with violent behavior.

Epidemiological clinical studies have shown that females are especially vulnerable to drug addiction and relapse. More specifically, females are more likely to transition to addiction soon after their first drug use and relapse, and they have greater cue-induced cravings for drugs.

Sarah Warren, the executive director of the Office of the Whole Child Services and Supports in Baltimore, gave a guest lecture during a class titled Health and Wellbeing in Baltimore: A Public Health Perspective. Warren discussed the importance of taking a holistic approach to improving student outcomes in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS).

While you may not notice anything different about it while walking to class this week, make no mistake: Charles Street belongs to the Hopkins women’s lacrosse team, as the No. 23 Blue Jays battled the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds Saturday at Homewood Field and knocked off the No. 9 Greyhounds by a score of 13-11.

The Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) opened its first event of the semester with Erlendy Cuero Bravo, a Colombian human rights activist who focuses on the plights of Afro-Colombians, on Monday. Cuero Bravo is the recipient of this year’s Anne Smedinghoff Award, named for a Hopkins alumna, former FAS executive direcotr and diplomat who was killed in Afghanistan.

Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociologist and assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, talked about her new memoir Thick, a collection of essays on politics, culture and life as a black woman, at Red Emma’s on Tuesday. Cottom has appeared on The Daily Show and the Still Processing podcast. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic and The New York Times.

Those of you that know me personally know that I don’t like breaks. This past weekend, though, I was exhausted. As a result I’m going to take a small break from my usual food-related content and share with you what I did over my weekend. It didn’t involve going into the city and meeting new people as usual but more on that later.

STEM apathy culture at Hopkins is the butt of countless jokes and memes. After all, how many times have you avoided eye contact with a student group tabling on the Breezeway on your way to math class? But as funny as it is to make fun of your friend who never leaves Brody for long enough to see the protests on the terrace, STEM students and professors’ relative lack of engagement in social and political activism is a serious problem.

The NBA has officially hit the home stretch of its season with All-Star Weekend coming to a close. The three days of prescribed fun have finished and now teams are gearing up to make the final push toward the postseason. The playoff picture in both conferences is far from clear, with singular wins and losses separating seeds one through eight in the East and the West. This article will address the biggest things to focus on in both conferences as we march towards the NBA Playoffs.

This past weekend, the Hopkins women’s fencing team swept all of its competition, claiming the Eastern Women’s Fencing Conference Championship. The team went a perfect 7-0, earning its second title in three years.